By Tommy Nguyen
ANAHEIM, CA – Orange County District Attorney Candidate Pete Hardin called on DA Incumbent Todd Spitzer to return campaign contributions from donors implicated in the “widening, corruption scandal” in Anaheim.
Harden said financial disclosures “reveal Todd Spitzer accepted max contributions from Todd Ament, who has been indicted by federal prosecutors and his wife Lea Ament. Spitzer also appears to have taken a $1,000 contribution from the implicated political consultant…the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has been missing in action in the probe.”
Spitzer is a former Orange County Supervisor, California State Assembly Member, and as the Orange County District Attorney, claims to be an expert on security issues and an advocate for victims’ rights.
The disclosures, said Hardin in a statement this week, also “reveal” significant contributions from LA Angels affiliate SRB Management, which is supposedly a client of Ament’s group of political consultants since 2020.
“Wherever we find corruption in Orange County, we find ties to Todd Spitzer,” said former Marine Judge Advocate Hardin, adding, “From his campaign team to his supporters and financial backers, you can’t be tough on crime when you surround yourself with criminals.”
There have been at least three individuals identified in Spitzer’s own campaign team who have been the subject of state or federal investigations, according to Hardin, including John Thomas, accused of price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Jeff Corless and Tim Lineberger, accused of ripping off the taxpayers while representing Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies.
Hardin has promised to “restore the integrity and professionalism of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.”
Hardin charged, “(O)nce again our District Attorney declines to prosecute his supporters. State and federal authorities will continue to handle these investigations to avoid the stink of Todd Spitzer’s corruption. He should immediately return the contributions he accepted from the implicated parties and release a statement detailing why he failed to investigate their corruption.”
Hardin’s campaign noted, “Todd Spitzer’s conspicuous absence from the Anaheim corruption scandal has not gone unnoticed. Despite warning the Laguna Beach City Council (a Democrat-led council) to abide by open meeting laws, Spitzer ignored clear violations of the same type by the Anaheim City Council (a Republican-led council).”
Hardin said, “Spitzer himself faces allegations of pay-to-play corruption, money laundering, and other crimes. Though Spitzer fired the OCDA investigator in charge of investigating Spitzer’s corruption, the investigator won his job back in court and was reinstated earlier this year.”
